HELLFIRE AWAITS MUSLIMS WHO BECOME WESTERNIZED
التمسك بالوحيين سبيل العزة والنجاة
Summary
1) Westernization of Muslim community.
2) The situation of none believing communities.
3) Salvation is only by adhering to Islaam.
4) The adherence of the Sahaabah (Prophet’s companions).
5) Encouraging the adherence to Islaam.
6) Warning against deserting the Qur’aan and Sunnah.
7) The penalty of one who apostates.
8) The mercy of the Prophet on his Ummah.
All praise is due to Allaah, may peace and blessings of Allaah be upon His Prophet, his household and companions.
Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah as He should be feared and be conscious of Him in private and in public.
“O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him, and speak
always the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and
will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allaah and His
Messenger has indeed achieved a great achievement.” (Al-Ahzaab:
70-71).
Brothers in Faith! These days, Islamic societies are being relentlessly
attacked by Christianisation campaigns, impudent temptations and open
war through misleading mass media controlled by callers to evil and
corruption in order to westernise these societies and to divert them
from their religion and path.
Indeed, the unbelieving nations live a disgraced life, suffer in
infected sludge and move in moral and religious darkness. While some
are alcoholics, others are addicted to music and another large number
of them are enslaved by their lust. Their statutes are full of
oppressive and unjust laws which they use to decide matters relating to
their lives, chastity and properties.
“And he for whom Allaah has not appointed light for him there is no light.” (An Noor: 40).
However, it is very saddening that some Islamic societies have been
affected by this westernisation so much so that it has attacked their
established concepts, changed their customs, weakens their strength and
destroys many aspects of their lives. Allaah says: “And they will never
cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion if they
can.” (Al-Baqarah: 217).
Brothers in Islaam! There will be no religious stability nor
actualisation of Divine promise or safety from retribution and
calamities except by holding fast unto the Book of Allaah which He
revealed to His Messenger; for that is real protection, the astounding
evidence and the ever-illuminating light. It is a revelation that
whenever it was revealed to the Prophet it weighed heavily on him, he
would lower his head, his face would become morose and his forehead
would sweat profusely. ‘Aa’ishah said: “I have seen while he was been
revealed to on a very cold day ad when the revelation ended, his
forehead would sweat profusely.” He, himself, used to say: “Sometimes,
revelation comes to me like a clattering of bell and that is the most
trying experience I get when the revelation is being revealed to me. It
would then leave me until I have comprehended the revelation.”
The Qur’aan is a great sign and a weighty Word. Allaah commanded His
Prophet to hold fast unto it and never deviate from it. He says “Then
We put you on a (plain) way of (Our) commandment. So follow you that
and follow not the desire of those who know not.” (Al-Jaathiyah:
18).
The Prophet himself informed his nation that the only guidance lies in
clinging unto the Qur’aan when he said: “I am leaving for you two
things if you hold fast to them you will never get astray: The Book of
Allaah and my Sunnah.”
His companions used to receive the Revelation with honour and
acceptance. They would abide by its commandments, surrender to its
judgment and guidance without hesitation or preference to other
options. Ibn Buraidah narrated from his father that he said: “While we
were sitting at our drinking place on the sand and we were three or
four persons with a jug with us and drinking liquor for it was then
lawful, then I left for the place of the Prophet and greeted him.
The verse that prohibited alcohol drinking was then revealed: “O you
who believe! Intoxicants, Gambling, Al-Ansaab (i.e. animals that are
slaughtered on stone-altars for idols) and Arrows (that are used for
seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of the Satan’s handiwork.
So avoid (strictly all) that in order that you may be successful. Satan
wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants and
gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allaah and from Salaah
(the Prayer). Will you then not abstain?” (Al-Maa’idah: 90-91).
I afterwards went to my companions and read the verse to them. One of
them was holding his alcohol in his hand having drank some and the rest
was still in his cup, but he turn the cup just below his upper lip.
They all poured away what was in their jug and said: “We abstain, Our
Lord! We abstain, Our Lord!”
The verse was revealed when they were holding their cups in their hands
and it was the command of Allaah that prevented them from reaching
their lips. Those who were holding cups of alcohol broke them and those
who have taken a mouthful coughed it out. Containers of alcohol were
broken in al-Madienah. Such is the commandment of Allaah. One should
have no option except to submit and surrender to it.
Also, when Allaah revealed the verse: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and
your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks
(veils) all over their bodies.” (Al-Ahzaab: 59) the Ansaar women came
out as if there were sieves on their heads because of their
garments.”
Ibn `Abbaas also narrated another incident of the companions’ total
submission to the commandments of Allaah and His Messenger. He said:
“The Messenger of Allaah saw a golden ring in the hand of a man so he
pulled it off and threw it away and then said: “Will one of you
knowingly take a burning charcoal and put it in his hand!” When the
Messenger of Allaah left the scene, the man was told: ‘Take your ring
and make use of it (in something else)’. The man replied: “No, by
Allaah! I will never take it since the Messenger of Allaah has
thrown it away.” (Muslim).
Fellow Muslims! The only safe way and protection from the trials and
temptations of this age is fast adherence to the Book of Allaah and the
Sunnah of His Messenger and then the path of the righteous predecessors
of this Ummah. That is the only way out of tribulations. Jundub Ibn
Abdullah Al-Bajalee told the people of Basrah about the two revelations
(the Qur’aan and Sunnah): “Hold fast unto the Qur’aan for
it is the guidance during the day and light during the
night. Take them into practice however hardship and poverty that may
cause you. When any calamity befalls you sacrifice for it your money
rather than your religion. If the calamity is beyond what your money
can bear, sacrifice your blood for it, for the actual deprived person
is the one deprived of his religion. There is no poverty after entrance
into Hellfire.”
Huthaifie Ibn Yamaan told Aamir Ibn Mitr: “What will be your position
if people take a single way and the Qur’aan takes another way?, which
of the ways will you follow? He answered “I will be with the Qur’aan,
die with it and be resurrected with it.”
Brothers in Faith! Hold fast unto this revelation sincerely you will be
shown its effects in your deeds, sayings dealings and all your affairs
and you will live a prosperous life and die for your religion and
loyalties.
Let each and every one of us present himself before the Book of Allaah
and the Sunnah and see whether he is among the obedient ones or among
the negligent ones. Let everyone beware and reform himself. Hasan
Al-Basrie said: “May Allaah have mercy on a slave who places himself
and his deeds in front of the Book of Allaah, if his deeds are in
accordance with the Book of Allaah he praises Allaah and asks Him for
increase and if the deeds are contradictory to the Book of Allaah he
rebukes himself and amends immediately.”
Fellow Muslims! You have in your possession an infinite treasure that
is the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah but yet where are those who follow
their injunctions? Where are those who submit themselves to them? Where
are those who answer their call?
The Glorious Qur’aan has given us admonitions, warned us as the Prophet
also warned against falling in the abyss of ignorance and disobedience.
Were these admonitions useful for us? Everyday we pass on evenings and
mornings a threat that frightens the hearts; are we heedful to this
threat?
Abu Dardaa’ narrated that the Prophet said, “We were with the Messenger
of Allaah one day , when he cast a look at the sky and said: This is a
time in which knowledge will be withdrawn from people so much that they
will not be able to withhold any thereof. Ziyaad Ibn Lubaid Al-Ansaarie
then asked, ‘O Messenger of Allaah! How can it be withdrawn from us
while we recite the Qur’aan, for by Allaah, we read it as well as our
wives and children.’ The Prophet answered, ‘O Ziyaad! I have been
counting you among the knowledgeable people of Al-Madienah! Are these
not Jews and Christians reading the Torah and Gospel with working with
anything thereof?’ (Ibn Maajah).
Some scholar commented on this Hadeeth and said, ‘As their recitation
of their book did not benefit them because of their non-practising of
their injunctions, so also will be you.’
Fellow Muslims! Attacking the texts of Qur’aan and Sunnah by
dishonouring and desecrating them or feeling that it cannot fulfil the
needs of ever-changing life or subjugating it or twisting it in order
to make it fit the modern age in matters that some irreligious people
wrongly feel that Islaam is the obstacle to their progress likes issue
of equating women with men in every aspect of life, taking usury,
perpetrating forbidden acts, exterminating the concept of enjoining
what is good and forbidding what is evil and vice, giving the
disbelievers opportunity to damp their ideological wastes in the name
of literature, art, freedom of opinion and other issues that the texts
of Islamic law has decided on as clearly and broadly as daylight. This
attack may lead to this Ummah losing its identity, honour and religion
which Allaah favours it with.
It is then incumbent on us, fellow Muslims, to honour the two
revelations (i.e. the Qur’aan and Sunnah) in such a way that will
prevent us from disobeying them or befriending those who deny them or
keeping silent when they are attacked or laughed at what they contain.
Whoever insults Allaah or His Messenger or dishonours them or says or
does anything that explicitly ridicules them or makes jest with the
religion (of Islaam), or dishonour the Qur’aan or desecrate it has
become a disbeliever in what is revealed to the Messenger of Allaah and
went out of the Fold of Islaam. The Prophet said, ‘whoever apostates
kill him!’(Bukhaarie).
Dear Muslim! Fear Allaah as regards your religion into which He guided
you and with which is by abstaining from all that contradict it or
contaminated it., You should carry out your duty towards it in all your
affairs in order to be saved from the threat that is in this verse,
“And if you tune away (from Islaam and the obedience to Allaah), He
will exchange you for some other people and they will not let your
likes.” (Muhammad: 38).
Brothers in faith! Fear Allaah, be conscious of Him and do not disobey
Him, ‘O you who believe, fear Allaah and be always with the truthful.’
(At Tawbah: 119).
Brothers in Islaam! The Prophet was compassionate with his Ummah. He is
full of pity, kind and merciful to them. He feared for them ignominy
and disgrace; and sins and disobedience. Abu Hurairah narrated that the
Messenger of Allaah said, ‘The likeness of me and my Ummah is like that
of a man who kindled a fire, then when it lighted all around him
butterflies and other flying insects keep on falling into it, while the
man keeps on preventing them from falling into it. But they overpower
him and fall into the fire. Such is the likeness of me and you. I am
preventing you from falling into the fire and saying, ‘Come away from
the fire.’ But you overpower me and insist on falling into it.’
(Muslim).
Such is how the ignorant and the disobeying men with their sins and
lusts will fall into hellfire on the Last Day in spite of the Prophet’s
efforts in preventing them from doing so. They therefore will fall into
fire because of their weak intelligence, just as the butterflies fall
into the fire of this world, for both are striving to destroy
themselves out of ignorance. So beware and be on guard before a day
comes in which no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he
believed not before not earned good through his faith.
Brothers in Islaam! Hold fast unto the rope of Allaah, even if people
leave it and escape to Allaah from temptation of this age. The Prophet
said, ‘Verily, in front of you are days of patience. Being patient in
those days will be like holding a live coal. Whoever does good deed
then will have the reward of fifty men who work as he does. The
companions asked, ‘The reward of fifty men among them?’ He answered,
‘The reward of fifty men among you!’